You can Bet on Me

Part 8 ~ Bullied (2)

Michael
My locker clicked open and I took out the warm plastic box inside. She had been giving me baked goods for a week now and opening my locker to find her wonderful creations started to become the best part of my day.
Today, it smelt absolutely delicious and my mouth watered at the thought of eating it. On top, there was a sticky note which read 'My Own Special Recipe: Savory Cheese and Garlic crepe'. It sounded delicious, and I couldn't wait to try it. I smiled to myself and put it in my bag when I felt someone jump onto my back. I whipped around to see Lucia.
"So, what's that?" she asked as she pushed past me to peek into my bag. I snatched up my bag and zipped it up before slinging it around my arm.
"Nothing," I replied casually as I began to walk to class. To my annoyance, she followed and curiously asked, "of course it's something. So tell me; what is it?"
"A crepe," I could have easily lied, but I didn't, for some reason. She looked at me in disbelief, or rather she knew that I was hiding part of the truth.
"Who made it?" she asked. "Your mum?"
I snorted. "My mum wouldn't lift a finger to cook something for me." Why did I sound so... vulnerable? At school, I was strong and confident and never swayed, but what was happening to me?
"Then who?" she asked, her face demanding an answer.
"None of your business," I snapped as I picked up my pace. She still somehow matched my pace and stuck to my side like glue.
"It's not my business, but I'm asking because I'm curious and I won't leave until you give me an answer, so tell me who gave it to you?" she replied stubbornly, stepping in front of me to block me from moving on until I answered her.
"I'll be late for class," I diverted her question.
"And so will I, and both of us wasting our time here will be such a pain for us here, won't it? So why don't you just answer my question and we can both move on and not waste time," she said mock-innocently.
"Fine. My girlfriend made it for me, okay?" I sighed. "Happy?"
She flashed me a smile that made me question her intentions in the first place and skipped away with a curt wave. I looked at her as she left and sighed. She puzzled me. I wasn't sure if she liked me or not – she was simply nosy and curious. But looking at the fact that she was a part of one of the many the gossip circles, I wasn't surprised.
"What'd she want this time?" another nuisance. I turned around and saw Xavier, grinning, as always.
"Answers to her questions. Question, questions, questions. She has far too many." I replied with a sigh. "Anyways, I got to go. See you later, I guess." Before he could say anything else, I walked away. I had bio, and I was actually looking forward to my least favourite subject (well, one of them). I wondered why, but honestly, I know why. Because Maddison was there. Seeing her made me feel happy, and I didn't know why.
I flung open the door and people immediately began to drift towards me, forming a crowd in front of me. Being over six feet, I could see over everyone's head and just barely spotted Maddison in her usual seat by the window. She was looking out the window and seemed much quieter and calmer compared to everyone else.
Giving the crowd in front of me brief answers to their questions and short comments to their statements, I managed to make my way to where Maddison sat just as the professor came in. As I sat down, I waited for her to look at me, but she didn't. I frowned. Did I do something wrong?
"Hello, I exist," I teased as she turned around to meet my gaze. Her eyes looked at me... differently than how she used to. I couldn't quite put my finger on what the look in her eyes was, but I knew it wasn't a good thing. "Did... did something happen?"
"No, nothing." She replied, shaking her head and turning around to look back out the window. Something felt... different. The professor walked into the classroom and began talking about our upcoming project, and normally, it made Maddison ecstatic. But today, she didn't even look at the professor. I didn't get it – did something happen? Did I do something? But what did I do?
Once class was over and everyone began hurriedly rushing out to the cafeteria to buy lunch and snap up the first spots in line, I approached Maddison. I didn't know what to say, and I didn't plan anything.
She was with her two friends – the red-head and the blondie. I still hadn't figured out their names, and I wasn't going to ask. At least not anytime soon.
"Hey, could I talk with you?" I said, standing behind Maddison. She turned around, an unreadable yet empty and thoughtful look in her warm green eyes. She looked hesitantly to her friends, and they both ushed her on and she finally turned back to me and said, "alright, but not too long."
I nodded and grinned, "promise."
Maddison followed me out of the cafeteria into the mostly empty hallway until we came below the stairs. I turned to her and asked, "is something wrong?"
"What?" she looked at me blankly. "No, nothing. I'm fine," she flashed a smile, but it was unconvincing and forced. She really was a terrible liar. Too much of a good girl to be a good liar, but sometimes, lying was the most important thing that helped us survive.
"You just seem... off," I replied slowly, taking care in which words I used. "Did someone hurt you? Are you being bullied? It's alright, you can tell me."
"But I can't," her voice was so soft that it barely amounted to a whisper and I barely caught her next words. "Because you can't do anything about it."
"Is that a challenge?" I joked. "I'll be the judge of that. Just tell me." I was sounding pushy. Annoying. Exactly the kind of pestering boyfriend who wanted to know everything and anything that happened. Prying into people's lives were not something I did often, nor something that I cared about. But at that moment, all the rules I used to live by crashed down to the ground. All the rules I had about myself didn't apply when it came to Maddison.
She shook her head slowly and tugged down her left sleeve. As she began to walk away, I grabbed her arm. I knew it wouldn't be a good idea to try and hold her, but I did anyways. Her left sleeve flipped up and she winced as she turned around. As I removed my hand quickly, I saw red marks. Dried blood on her wrist. They looked like fingernail marks, and I had enough braincells to know that she wasn't hurt by anything. She was hurt by someone.
"What happened?" what I really wanted to ask was 'who hurt you?' but that wasn't the right question to ask at the moment.
"It was... nothing." She shook her head. "Nothing. I... they're... they're just papercuts."
"That many?" I asked. She really was a terrible liar, and her excuses might have been even worse. She bit her lip and nodded.
"I-I'm going to get water," she said quickly and rushed away before I could say anything else. I wasn't going to give up though – no. I chased her, and laughed to myself about how she was right. I really was a stalker. But a stalker with good intentions.
Maddison could walk a lot faster than I had thought. I was doing a power-walk to keep up with her as she stopped at a drink tap, completely unaware that I was close. She turned on the tap and just as she leant in to drink, three girls walked past and bumped her, jerking her forward and covering her face in water. The girls looked at her and apologised in an unmeaningful manner before walking away, talking and laughing.
Seeing that made my blood boil. How easily Maddison let herself get pushed around and bullied and not recognizing it when people were mocking her. How good of a person she was. I came up to her and when she looked up at me, I saw a bruise on her face. Not a large one, but it made me wonder – what was she hiding? Why didn't she want me to know so desperately? She immediately used her hand to cover her face and said quickly, "I bumped into a pole."
"I don't believe that," I looked her dead in the eyes. "That's not true. You're not a good liar, Mads. Plus, I don't believe you're dumb enough to do that."
"You're right. I'm not a good liar. But I'm not obliged to tell you anything," she fiercely met my gaze and stubbornness glinted in her eyes. She really wasn't going to tell me, and I knew it. I couldn't help but think – if it was anyone else, would she have told them? Would she have gone to lying to hide what really happened from them? I shook my head. That wasn't the matter right now, but I knew something was wrong and I wouldn't let it go until I knew who hurt her.
"Mads... tell me. Please. I've told you everything about me, so just tell me what happened and who it was," I said, lying through my teeth. She hesitated. Her eyes flickered back to a spot on the wall behind me and she swayed on her feet for a little while.
"I don't know their names," she finally blurted, admitting that someone had hurt her.
"What... did they do to you?" I asked, fighting to keep control of my tone and expression.
"Nothing much..." she replied, looking sideways.
"What did they do to you?" I repeated more firmly, almost growling.
She lifted her gaze to meet me reluctantly. "Just... dug their fake nails into my wrist."
"And the bruise on your face?" I said.
"Nothing." She adverted my gaze. Lying.
"What actually happened? Nothing can't give you a bruise," I stated.
"They... slapped me. Told me to stay away from you because..." her voice shrank.
"Stay away from me why?" I said, my voice quavering to stay calm.
"...Because I wasn't good enough for you. That I was boring and plain and nerdy, and that you were the definition of perfect and I was the definition of... ugly." Maddison replied, her eyes looking past me. I took a deep breath, but it couldn't control my anger. I was brimming with rage. Boiling.
"Well... what did they look like?" I asked, already growling.
"Don't... do anything to them, please?" Maddison looked at me pleadingly. "Hurting them in any way would just make life harder for me and you."
"I won't," I promised, but I wasn't entirely sure if I could keep that promise.
"Alright," she sighed. "One was brunette with light freckles, another had blonde hair with a streak of blue, a girl with brown hair and blue eyes, and a girl with ginger hair."
Those girls. I recognized them. They had always been glaring at Maddison from across the table, and I knew that they hated her, but never thought they would go as far as to hurt and threaten her. That was it. I saw red. Without another word, I stormed off. I could barely hear Maddison pleading for me to stop, but I kept going. I was going to find them.
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